In the past, politicians promised to create a better world. They had different
ways of achieving this. But their power and authority came from the optimistic
visions they offered to their people. Those dreams failed. And today, people
have lost faith in ideologies. Increasingly, politicians are seen simply as
managers of public life. But now, they have discovered a new role that restores
their power and authority. Instead of delivering dreams, politicians now promise
to protect us from nightmares. They say that they will rescue us from dreadful
dangers that we cannot see and do not understand. And the greatest danger of all
is international terrorism. A powerful and sinister network, with sleeper cells
in countries across the world. A threat that needs to be fought by a war on
terror. But much of this threat is a fantasy, which has been exaggerated and
distorted by politicians. It's a dark illusion that has spread unquestioned
through governments around the world, the security services, and the
international media. This is a series of films about how and why that fantasy
was created, and who it benefits. At the heart of the story are two groups: the
American neoconservatives, and the radical Islamists. Both were idealists who
were born out of the failure of the liberal dream to build a better world. And
both had a very similar explanation for what caused that failure. These two
groups have changed the world, but not in the way that either intended.
Together, they created today's nightmare vision of a secret, organized evil that
threatens the world. A fantasy that politicians then found restored their power
and authority in a disillusioned age. And those with the darkest fears became
the most powerful. (9)